Chapter 527: Final Round: Part 2

"Where are you lot going!? I'm not done killing you yet!" Ares waggled his fist at the pins looking to leave the fenced area. His call froze them on the spot and it dawned on them that, unfortunately, he was right. The trial was not over. "Come on..." Ares gestured with both hands and a soppy voice as if he was trying to woo a dog into his lap. "Come on..." A knife flew past Ares' head, naturally it was a 'gift' from Mimi, and he was forced to duck to avoid it... Though the combat roll he did afterwards was entirely unnecessary but it added dramatic flair as he stood up and took a bow. It was becoming apparent exactly what kid of person he was... At least that was what most people thought until he turned back to Finnian and spoke in a comparatively normal manner and tone compared to his previous self. "Ah but really though, is getting twenty points actually feasible or are you gonna be a party pooper every single time?" Ares question was laced with a hidden truth that Finnian had assumed nobody other Mimi knew. As it turned out, though, Ares had caught on to the fact that Finnian's survival during that previous attempt wasn't as honest and by the books as it should have been.

"Ah... Uh, my bad. Won't happen again... Probably..."

"Probably my ass! go die!" Ares returned to his usual goofy self after hearing an answer that was, quite frankly, not acceptable! Ares wanted the reward, damn it, but also equally importantly he wanted his magic to work as it was supposed to! It felt wrong not killing someone with an Armillary and his pride was wounded! Pride aside, though, little did Ares know he'd probably get the reward anyway so long as he kept getting ten points per attempt, because of Finnian's guilt on the matter, but for now he still believed he was fighting an uphill battle. He hadn't given up yet, though, because it was time for attempt two and he had something devious planned in order to get that reward! Even if Cheater Mc-Cheaterson wanted to raise his cultivation up a realm or two in the blink of an eye again it probably wouldn't be enough to save him because this next art was a real doozy! Or, to be more accurate, the art itself wasn't the issue. It was part of the bigger picture but... Well, it was better to show it rather than explain it so Ares got down to business and summoned the war aura flag while the pins got back into position.

The fabric of the war aura flag fluttered as Ares gripped onto it and began yanking it with all the might his adept trait body could muster, stretching it as far as it would go to open up a portal to the void. A giant red hand emerged and helped him with this task but Ares wasn't done yet so he pulled harder and harder on the fabric to widen the gap personally while utilising some nothingness on his fingers to speed up the process. Something he'd learnt from experimentation with the war aura was that it was technically possible to summon the big soldier, the same one he manifested back during the psychopath stepper fight, if he spent about five uninterrupted minutes opening up the portal by hand. It was a long and arduous process but it did work! But why do it in the first place? Well, it wasn't something that could be done in normal combat, and it wasn't stronger than Armillary which could be case in under one tenth fo the same time, but Ares had another use for the big guy when he was finally out and about, roaming in reality. The key trait that made summoning the large soldier worth it was precisely that, the fact that he was large and in charge. Ares wasn't going to use the war aura solider to attack; catching lightning and stabbing it down at the pins would be decent and all but he had a better use for the soldier that would be far more deadly. Put simply, Ares was going to sacrifice it for the greater good!

Five minutes of struggling later, Ares finally managed to drag the void soldier out by the wrist and the giant stepped onto the courtyard with thundering strides. Footfall that could disrupt the dead shook the courtyard all over but Ares directed the giant to kneel before him so the earth's quivering was quelled. If Ares could summon even just ten of these soldiers at once he could perhaps stomp a planet into bite-sized chunks of rock but that wasn't relevant to his goal right now. What he was about to do was highly impractical, not something he could ever do outside of conditions as specific as this, because summoning this red giant was basically impossible under normal circumstances what with how long it took, but it was going to leave its mark on this trial and score Ares a juice twenty points! He was certain this time!

With the kneeling giant positioned directly between Ares and the pins, he took a step back and raised his hands as though they were a camera by connecting his two thumbs with his two pointer fingers to create a rectangular viewing angle. Sizing up the distance and position of everyone involved was paramount for success so Ares used his Omniscience to ease the burden of calculating it all and eventually found the answer, the trajectory, he was looking for. The now beaming smile on his face was a death sentence for the pins who were lost in thought about what the goal of all this setup was exactly. The giant didn't look like it was able to replicate the power of an Armillary so what was the point of even summoning it in the first place? Was Ares going to combine attacks by mixing the giant with something else? Was he going to blow up the giant to create a suicide bomber of some sort? No and no! Ares goal was to empower his weapon in an extremely roundabout way!

Ares pulled out the Primordial Blade and, though the pins didn't understand what he was up to now, they knew it was going to be a significant problem for them by the time he was done. That weapon was the very thing that dismantled the killer whale earlier as though it was a piece of jelly picking a fight with an axe. Even in its sheathe, the Blade radiated an unmistakable aura of superiority as though it were boasting of being the ultimate weapon with no room for discussion. Utilising this fabled weapon was a surefire way to earn himself a backlash, using it once was maybe acceptable but twice in such a short time frame was asking for trouble, but it was worth it! Not only was suffering from this incoming backlash good for building up tolerance, which would do Ares lots of good in the near future, it also wouldn't matter afterwards because Ares was planning on bringing out his furry friend Garmr for the third attempt. So what if Ares broke his arm or wounded it on this attempt swinging around the Blade that was too much for him to handle? Garmr's regeneration was otherworldly and, even if it wasn't, he would not be bothered by such a trivial injury to begin with and it wouldn't make any difference to his overall output.

So, all things considered, the Blade was going to be the star of the show for the second attempt as Ares wanted to familiarise himself with it. He was basically only one stage away from bloodline awakening now, technically two but he was at the peak of ninth stage and could break through whenever so he wasn't counting it anymore, and things were going to change considerably going forward. The availability of Garmr was actually a distraction! Sure Ares could use his revenant form to solve all his problems but it was a trap! His human form had plenty of advantages that, while not immediately superior, would one day catch up to what Garmr was currently. Not training with his magic and Primordial Blade, the latter of which he could probably swing four or five times in a row after going up a realm to bloodline awakening, was a recipe for disaster in the long run. If Ares solved all his problems with Garmr, and slacked with everything else, then, one day, when he really needed his other measures to be up to scratch, he would find out the hard way he'd doomed himself. Besides, Ares had a versatile combat style anyway and exclusively using Garmr would never be the sort of approach he took regardless. Swapping seamlessly between human and revenant was the play in his eyes and it's not like he couldn't fall back on Garmr in desperate times if he really needed to. Ares' human form, going forward, was really going to need the Primordial Blade in the short term to keep up with Garmr's all around incredible stats.

That aside, it was high time Ares got his second attempt underway and his strategy was rather simple. He took up a javelin tossing stance, took a running start, and chucked the Primordial Blade right at his own war aura giant. As the sword left his fingertips, a chant bellowed from his lips.

"Big Game Hunter!"

If there was one thing Ares knew for sure, it was that, in terms of lethality, strictly as in what his best option to kill a person was, it was that the Primordial Blade still ranked number one even after he'd invented and developed Armillary. If Ares fought against a direct clone of himself and had to choose between getting hit dead centre by an Armillary or slashed at by the Primordial Blade, he'd pick the former every day of the week. He'd die either way, he wasn't foolish enough to think otherwise because unlike a certain Finnian bastard who cheated death earlier Ares wasn't invincible, but the Armillary was not as deadly in direct confrontation as the Blade was. It was the annihilation vs disintegration debate rising from the ashes of Ares' memories and taking a new form but what remained true from that particular discussion was that annihilation had the flare, but not the edge. If Ares could condense the explosive Energy packed within the Armillary and refine it into a sword, it would not be as special as the Primordial Blade and not even just because it contained a whole universe inside it... Though that was definitely a part of it and needed to be considered for obvious reasons. The blade was simply a perfect weapon through and through, meticulously crafted to be born of a now broken and never replicable mould, so naturally looking for ways to improve it would do wonders and elevate it higher than Ares' other options could go.

In this case, Ares had one standard option that he could use on any weapon, a disintegration coating, which he'd also done, but there was another art up his sleeve that he didn't get to use often or really at will that would also suffice. Big Game Hunter. It had a pretty strict requirement... Sort of. You could use Big Game Hunter against smaller enemies but the benefit would be borderline non-existent so doing as such was pointless. Realistically, this art could only ever be used against foes at least five to six times bigger than an ordinary human and even then it would inefficiently lag behind other arts because that was the bare minimum for it to be functional... But, when it did work, and when it was relevant, it left an impact that was hard to match up to thanks to how quickly it scaled into the territory of real power. In that sense, if Ares could combine the overpowered Blade with the overpowered Big Game Hunter, at the top of its game, he would be trailblazing a new path of harmfulness he'd as of yet never discovered... Key word being 'if'. The void giant Ares was using as a medium for the Big Game Hunter, the sacrificial lamb that would be slaughtered as a prelude and offering to greatness, had taken multiple minutes to summon so it was very clearly not a strategy Ares could replicate in a real battle...

But this wasn't a real fight, it was bowling!

Maybe there was a way for Ares to use physical pressure and create a golden titan in a shorter time span, maybe even a giant larger than the soldier kneeling before him which would benefit Big Game Hunter even more, but this approach was certain and Ares knew he could do it. He had the tools, they were just clunky, barely workable at the best of times, and tying together their usefulness took a moment of real genius from Ares to piece the puzzle together. Now that he had successfully, however... The result spoke for itself and what the result was saying was tha everybody was dead, faster than they were when he used Armillary, and this combination of treasure, aura, and art was probably the strongest idea in Ares' arsenal. This was his hypothetical upper limit in a dream scenario... One that maybe Pelagic Prison could facilitate with its five minute lockout period? Ares wasn't too sure because he'd be really cutting the time short and even then he'd have to hit his opponent who'd probably just dodge. Either way, regardless, this was a brand new trick and Ares was happy to see it do is job as he'd envisioned it in his head. For starters, and this wasn't surprising at all, the speed at which the Primordial Blade shot through the sky was untraceable. It was fast to begin with but the moment it collided with the giant, the moment the world froze briefly so that Big Game Hunter could measure its target and do its thing, was the moment that carp hit the fan.

The millisecond time resumed, and the Blade became empowered beyond its usual strength, everyone was already dead. If you were watching the collision between the Blade and the giant, you would not have seen the pins die because it was impossible to twist your neck and follow the Blade's path. Even if there was an expert here whose eyes could follow the blinding quickness the rest of their body would not be able to swivel and track it, it just wasn't possible. By the time everyone turned to face the pins, and see how they handled this impossible task, they were all lying on the ground, fading away and resurrecting, with a perfectly round hole drilled dead centre in their foreheads. They hadn't put up a fight not because it was pointless, like with the Armillary, but because they couldn't even if they wanted to. It wasn't feasible to even raise an arm or hand to block in time, let alone summon a weapon or chant an art. It was instantaneous death delivered via cold hard steel at speeds so fast even light itself couldn't keep up. The blade was functionally invisible as it travelled and some of the pins weren't even aware they'd died until their connection to their limbs was cut like a severed string and blood dripped down over their unresponsive eyes.

Everyone was dead...

Except for Finnian!

Ares could barely contain his rage because he'd just about caught sight of what happened and he was feeling the urge to go and kick this cheating bastard in the balls! The sword pierced through Finnian's barrier effortlessly, he might as well have not even raised a Barrier for all the difference it would have made, and death was mere fractions of a second away. The Blade tickled his frontal lobe as it dug through the initial layer of flesh on his forehead, just like the pins before him, and even crackled part of his skull as it flew past... But then it stopped! Finnian's wide eyed confusion took a moment to settle as he came to understand his right hand was gripping the Blade's handle and holding it in place, preventing it from turning his brain into mince meat. His body, in the last possible moment automated itself once again and caught the weapon that should have been untouchable. The Blade left a trail as it blazed a path through reality, the very air was scorched by its immense power, and yet Finnian had simply caught it like it was a baseball. Gloveless, manaless, treasureless, his hand darted up with precision and gripped the handle just in time to save himself from certain death AGAIN. A faint trickle of blood leaked out from his forehead, painting the Blade a deep crimson at the point of contact, but that was the extent of his injuries and Ares was seriously not having it! With a growl of resentment, Ares recalled the Blade, stored it away, and complained with a restless heart.

"Motherfucker!" A quick Shift placed him beside Finnian who could only smile wryly as he took stock of the situation he'd caused not once, but twice now. "Have you ever been skydiving? Go do it without a parachute." Ares was back to 'subtly' insinuating Finnian had no business being alive right now and he should do Ares a favour and rectify the issue. "You've heard of breakfast in bed but I personally recommend breakfast in bath. Just take a toaster with you and you're all set." Ares' eyes flickered as he stared Finnian dead in his own eyes. "Go give a tiger an oral cavity examination and shove your head in its mouth to get a closer look."

"Will you stop telling me to kill myself?!" Even if he was in the wrong, Finnian wasn't going to tolerate this kooky hara-kiri petition endlessly!

"Not until..." Ares gripped Finnian's shoulders and shook him back and forth. "... You die like you're supposed to!" Ares tired of rocking the the immovable Finnian and let go, half panting and half chuckling with an eery determination. "Alright..." With a gulp and a deep breath, Ares continued, "Alright you bastard... I'm really gonna kill you this time. No more Mr Nice Ares!"

Finnian couldn't believe his ears... "Telling me to die over and over again was 'Mr Nice Ares'?!

"I said he was Mr Nice Ares, not Mr Polite Ares!" With his declaration of intent lingering in the air, Ares stomped away with frustration evident in every heavy step. This was the first time in a long while he felt like tearing his hair out because he was being robbed of glory repeatedly! Still, rather than annoyed, he more so felt challenged. If one method didn't work, he would damn well up the ante and try again and again until this rotten cheater had both feet in the grave and was comfortably six feet under! "Now you're really gonna get it..." Mumbling and grumbling to himself, Ares took up his position as a bowler once more but kept his eyes trained on Finnian the entire time. Even when the rest of the pins returned he spared them zero glances, practically staring through them as though they didn't exist in order to facilitate his grudge with Finnian fuelling his determination. "Hey!" Ares called out. "How about a quick rule change?" Finnian's brow was raised in response to Ares' suggestion indicating he was at least interested in hearing him out... It was the least he could do... "Get rid of the other pins. Just me and you. If I don't kill you, I get zero points regardless of how much you 'accidentally' cheat. If I kill you however, my score is corrected to be the sixty it should be!

This bold proclamation stunned Finnian momentarily but he was actually ok with this the more he thought about it. If Ares won, he'd get what was rightfully his. If he didn't, Finnian would be unofficially absolved of his cheating because Ares was accepting the outcome and blaming himself for not being able to overcome it. Ares didn't really care about his points anymore, he knew he was getting into the sect regardless, as did everyone else here, he just wanted to kill Finnian at this point as that had become his new goal. He was staking his pride, and the rumoured reward, on this final attempt and he didn't want the other pins to distract him or get in the way of his final attack. Plus the other pins didn't seem to want to bother obstructing him anymore either because there was no reason to. It was clear at this point they were only going to die pointlessly anyway so standing in his way and getting resurrected, feeling the pain of death, was just unnecessary. if they sat this one out, nothing would change and they were firmly convinced of that already after the last two attempts. Finnian nodded. "Ok, your terms are perfectly reasonable. I won't try and control the cheating anymore..."

"You were controlling it?!" Ares wasn't going to let that comment slide. "Since when asshole!?" From his perspective, Finnian did basically nothing! It was true so Finnian could only shake his head and apologise internally. "Let's just get this over and done with. If you live through this... Ah whatever, you won't" Arse decided there was no point stressing about something that wasn't going to happen but that only made Finian more curious because overcoming his accidental cheating wasn't going to be easy... His cultivation was raising itself multiple realms above transition in the split second he lost control; his body had enough time to go up about four or five stages before Ares' attacks reached him. That was not a small cultivation gap to have to overcome and yet Ares seemed awfully confident...

Am I actually going to die? Finnian couldn't even tell anymore and he felt more like a bystander in this affair. His other half and Ares were duelling and he wasn't really involved, simply a spectator who didn't know where to place his bets... This tryout had really gotten out of hand...